What a PARTY

OUR LITTLE GIRL IS 1

Can you believe it!?!

Comparisons:
birth weight: 7lbs. 15oz.-----------current weight: 18lbs. 9oz.
birth height: 21 1/2 in.---------current height: 28 3/4in.
birth cuteness: pretty cute-------current cuteness: INDESCRIBABLE!

Maycee's, and Tristen's, First birthday turned out great! We were so happy with all the family that came. We hope everybody had a great time, especially with the bounce house that we got to borrow from some friends! (which of coarse i didn't get a picture of)

Here is the cake that took to long to decorate.......

Its a white heart with hot pink zebra stripes! Every little girls dream! Right?

Another angel......



This is both the cakes, Tristen's and Maycee's. Tristen's was a chocolate volcano!

Here is Maycee getting ready to dig in :) Wait!!! Blow out your candle first!

There she goes!!! WAIT!!! Lets take that cute dress off that Gramma Kimmy got you for your birthday, we don't want to get it all dirty.


She didn't get all this frosting on her face by herself. Her daddy decided to smash her cake in her face! He didn't do a very good job, it only made it to her nose.


Maycee enjoyed all the gifts she got and she thanks you all very much! She plays with all of them everyday!


This is a singing puppy that she got from Grandma Mickelson. She absolutely loves it! She always starts to dance when it sings.

I guess the cake didn't feel her up because she really wanted to eat this wrapping paper. (inside the wrapping was a baby that swims in the bath tub. She loves to carry her new dolly around.)

The Party turned out great!!! Thank you to all of those that came and thank you to all of those who sent birthday wishes in your place. We truly are a loved Family!

BIRTHDAY PARTY

2 Cakes

2 Candles
1 CELEBRATION !!!




Maycee and Tristen are turning 1 !!!


Come enjoy some cake and ice ream with us this Saturday at 6:30pm at the Mickelson's

If you have questions or need directions let me know...

Bathroom

Alright, I cant wait any longer.......

The bathroom is not completely finished but I cant wait any more. I want to show everyone all the work that Blake and I have put into this bathroom. We have worked on many other projects on this house together but this is our most recent and probably most involved. (Maybe ill do some more before and afters on a later post of other projects.)
I am sad to say that I wish I would have taken more pictures. As the process was happening I thought that I was doing really well at taking pictures. But, now I see them and there are alot of times during this post that I thought, " Oh, I wish I had a picture of that!"ANYWAY....

Here is some BEFORES...

Look at this BEAUTIFUL vanity

And equally beautiful bathtub!

This bathroom was a two-for-one kinda deal. You got the old fixtures, and all the gunk and scum from the past thirty years with it! Just what we always wanted!!!


Upon Signing papers Blake and I, along with alot of friends and family, started taking the house apart. This bathroom was completely gutted! (excepted for the toilet. It didn't look to bad and was still in good working order.) Thanx to Allee and Mom Brimhall for demoing the bathroom while I was at work :)
Unfortunately I dont have a picture of the bathroom empty :( First picture I took when we started working on the bathroom again we already had the NEW tub back in. So just try to use your imagination as to what it looked like without the NEW tub in.

let the PROCESS begin!

Blake had to redo some of the plumbing so that you just use one knob to turn the water on not two. This is him working on it now.

He is such a handy guy to have around :) And has the cutest smile!!! (if you watch Blakes hair in all the pictures I have taken of this project you can see it get longer. He is in need of a hair cut NOW!)

Once the tub was in it was time to get started on the TILE!

Notice how Blakes shoulder is very wet in this picture. Once I showed him how to use the saw (ie. put the blade cover down) he didn't get wet anymore! Your welcome honey :)

Here goes the first Tile!!! Down.... Set..... DRY!!!!! Blake finished the first row that night and then we were both tired. We got up the next morning...... Blake went to work and I finished tile on the floor.

Put the grout in the next day (tile has to cure for 24hours)

Around that same time Blake got all the backer board up on the wall around the shower so that we could hang the tile on the wall. Notice the Toilet found a temporary home in the tub while the tile on the floor was put in and cured.

I spent the next few days hanging Tiles on the wall. Since the tiles are SOOO heavy we only did one row at a time so that we didnt have to worry about the tiles sagging. Also between the tile going up in the shower I painted walls. So wall color first and then you can see the tile go up.

Before Paint

After Paint....

I don't know how well this color looks on your screen but is PURPLE, not pink! Its almost a plumb color. More of an antiqued looking purple. Its very soft on the eyes :) Blake kept calling it pink for a while and it was really bothering me! So know you know when you come over you can say "oh, what a purple looking bathroom!" Thank you - April

Here is the tile in the shower.....

More tile......

And More Tile........(also notice the new vanity, just a corner of it)

And its grouted too!!! (the bathtub got cleaned out too)

Whats that? You say there is a corner piece missing at the top? Oh ya!!! Well guess what, it is STILL not in :( In my rush of trying to put the last few pieces in, I just placed that piece up there with out any thin set (glue) and then went to make some other cuts. I came back and put those cuts back up and cleaned up thinking I was done. The next day I went to grout and noticed that piece was not glued in place! UGH!!! I wanted to pull my hair out!!! I wonder how long it will be before it gets put in....... any guesses???????

And here is a better picture of the vanity



Yes, Blake is cleaning the toilet with his hand IN THE GROSS TOILET WATER.
He is a trooper!

After all the tile was in with the new fixtures and walls painted then came the fun part, ACCESSORIZING!!!

If you ever need home goods, shop at ROSS. they will give you the best bang for your buck.
and..... drum roll please.........


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AFTER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


So it might not look like much but let me explain a little. This bathroom is only 5' x 8' so its kinda hard to get the full affect with one little camera shot.

This is another angel...


I have plans to get a more cute matching soap dispenser, haven't done that yet. Also to buy a mirror with a frame is pretty expensive. So i bought the one you see here and have plans to make a really cute frame for really cheap. (ill show ya later)


I also have a great idea to make some fun towel hooks to go on the wall opposite the toilet


Take a look at this shower curtain though, it was on clearance and after using a gift card I had it was only $1.96!!!

Also you can't tell from the picture very well but the shower curtain is one of those new-fangled curved rod, it makes the world of difference! As Woody says in the first toy story movie, " If you don't have one, GET ONE!"(Woody is referring to a moving buddy (and if your a Russell you already knew that) and I am referring to the curtain rod.) Blake likes to call the hula hoop shower.

This bathroom project was a lot of fun and A LOT of WORK!!! I am glad that it is over.... well mostly. We still have trim to put up, a few other little odd jobs, those few other things that I talked about making, oh and that one more piece of tile.
Im happy to say that Blake and I did it ourselves and that we didn't have to hire someone out. Im also happy to say that we did it TOGETHER!!! I love you Blake!
If you have any questions about how we did something or how much something cost us or how much we change for labor (ha ha) feel free to ask !!! :)

Temple Trip and More

FIRST, let me brag about the bathroom :)

It is mostly finished, we still have a few little things left like: hanging the mirror, making the mirror frame (which is in my head, its gonna be cool), caulking, putting up trim, and making my towel hooks ( which are also in my head and equally going to be as cool)

This is Maycee taking her first bath, in a bath tub, at our house. She pretty much LOVED it!

Yesterday, we had the opportunity to visit the Gila Valley Temple. It is BEAUTIFUL!
The workmanship inside was only the best, of coarse, and breath taking. I was surprised how modern all the furnishings inside where. It is a smaller temple but feels very open. I wish we would have brought some non member friends, it would have been a perfect opportunity for missionary work. The entire temple was beautiful but the chandiler in the celestial room..... I don't even have words that can describe it. YOU HAVE TO GO SEE IT! You don't need reservations just GO!

When we pulled up there were signs that asked you to leave your camera and phone in the car. It didn't surprise me but I was kinda bummed because I wanted to get a picture of all of us standing outside. We went with Blakes parents and two of his sisters, Abby and Ashley, and there families. I guess we will just have to go back :)

This is us in the car, right before entering the temple.

Blake has an Aunt Bon that lives in Pima, only a few minutes from the temple. We left Maycee at her house while we toured the temple. Maycee is a mommas girl and wasn't very happy while I was gone. When we got back she was crying. Thats okay, I wasn't bothered by it, Aunt Bon and her boys didn't seemed to be bothered by it either. Thanx guys i really appreciate it :)


Before we went out for lunch the boys, Jake and Jhett, were kind enough to saddle the horses and take all the cousins for a ride.

This is Maycee on Jhett on Churro

This is Maycee in the barn while the horses where being saddled. Her face doesn't show it but she really was excited. I think after crying while we were gone her emotions where a little shot.

Okay, this next picture is pretty gross but I was kinda fascinated by it. As you may know where there is horse, there is waist. Where there is waist, there is fly's. And at the Judds, where there are fly's, there is a fly trap.

This thing was moving all over inside with hundreds of flys!!! (and some maggets)
DISGUSTING!

Back to prettier pictures :) Maycee is getting a ride while waiting for her ride. Notice mount Graham in the back round, it still has snow.

It was a really good trip, and Im glad we got to go. Maycee did really well traveling, except the last half an hour of the car ride. Still cute though :)

And last but not least, look at what I found this morning! Our little "Mess" is a true girl!!!

She is already for the womanly duties that some day will be hers. She was found carrying a purse and a bottle scrubber. She couldn't be more happy about both of these items. She carried them around most of the morning.